New Delhi: Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh on Monday downplayed Amar Singh's remarks blaming his "overconfidence" for the party's defeat in the Firozabad Lok Sabha by-poll, saying it was a proof of democratic functioning of the party.
"It (Amar's statement) proves that Samajwadi Party is not an autocratic party but a democratic one," Mulayam told reporters outside Parliament.
SP General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh had, in a interview, said that Samajwadi Party lost the recent by-elections in UP due to the overconfident attitude of party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Amar Singh also said that he was always made a scapegoat for party's defeat.
"Ours is a democratic set up. One is free to express his or her opinion in our party. I am happy that he has expressed his opinion," Mulayam said.
However, taking a different stand, party MP Ram Gopal Verma said Amar Singh should speak within a certain limit.
"Whatever he speaks, if it is within a limit, then it would be tolerated. Otherwise it will be a problem," Verma said.
Reacting to Amar's statement, actress and party MP Jaya Bachchan said, "There is a complete democracy in the party."
- PTI
First Published: Monday, November 30, 2009, 16:07